Benjamin Millar
Aintree’s Colakidis family was just like any other, then they received the news any parent dreads – one of their daughters had developed an incurable cancer.
Now five and a half, Sammy was three when she was first diagnosed with Neuroblastoma.
Her parents realised something was amiss with Sammy – an identical twin and one of four daughters – when her typically bubbly personality evaporated.
Noticing an unusual yellow colour around Sammy’s brow, they took her to the Royal Children’s Hospital.
After a series of tests, the Colakidis family received the heartbreaking news Sammy had Stage 4, high-risk Neuroblastoma.
The rare and aggressive tumour had started behind her stomach, spreading to Sammy’s liver and throughout her bones.
Her mother Kristy said being told their daughter had incurable cancer was the most devastating moment of their life.
“It is the news that breaks you and shatters your world in an instant,” she said.
“There was no time to waste before we had to make the decision to take extensive and invasive action to fight against her cancer.”
Determined to create a positive environment for the entire family, Kristy and father Steven threw themselves into working out how best to support Sammy and coordinate hospital stays with the lives of their three other daughters, Charlotte, Georgia and Alexandra.
“We had no choice, we could not spend days wallowing in sorrow,” Ms Colakidis said.
Following a gruelling 12-month treatment that involved two stem-cell transplants, often resulting in extreme nausea and pain, Sammy is now a part of a US-based ‘maintenance’ trial in an attempt to stay in remission for longer.
Fundraising continues to be a struggle, as each US trip costs at least $20,000, a situation exacerbated by current international travel restrictions. The next trip is scheduled for the middle of October.
Mr Colakidis said the process has been “very painful” but the family remains motivated to do everything they can for Sammy, who is now in her first year of primary school at Aintree Primary alongside twin sister Alexandra.
“Sammy is still struggling with just wanting to look and feel normal, however she still has her can-do attitude and keeps moving forward.”
Further details and donations: gofundme.com/help-sammys-fight-against-neuroblastoma
